The Old Lullaby
by PJ Blindclown
Summary: Over the years, three fathers have sung the same old lullaby to their children. But the words mean something different for each of them.
1. The Birds

(A/N.) This one just came to me out of the blue, while listening to music. This series of drabbles only has three parts, all of them refering to the same song.

Disclaimer: I don't own any recognisable places, people etc found in this story. The song, "Slumber My Darling" was written by Stephen Foster. The version to which I will refer throughout this series was performed by Tommy Fleming.

The Birds

Jasmine had been fighting sleep for hours now, but she refused to give in. 'She is stubborn,' Jarred thought. 'Like both her parents.'

At any other time, Jarred would say this was a good thing. But not now. It had always been this way, ever since Jasmine was a newborn babe. But now, at the age of seven, Jarred thought that something should have changed by now.

Back when they had been living in Del, Jarred and Anna had often heard of parents complaining that their children would still not fall asleep on their own by the age of two, and when she was a healer, Anna would prescribe potions to help them. But to Jarred's annoyance, she would do no such thing for Jasmine.

"She does not need them," Anna would tell him in a tired voice. Jarred knew that the forests were certainly not lacking in ingredients, so he had tried many times to try and convince his wife that their daughter needed potions to help her to fall asleep more quickly. But just like her daughter, Anna would not give in.

Finally, Jarred began singing an old lullaby that he had learned in the palace. As he often did now a days, he began the song at Jasmine's favourite verse.

"Slumber my Darling, the birds are at rest, The wandering dews by the flowers are caressed.

Slumber my Darling, I will wrap you up warm, And pray that the Angels will shield you from harm."

Within moments, all that could be heard within their little house in the treetops was Jasmine's soft breathing.

"She likes it when you sing that part about the birds," Anna whispered beside him. "I think it brings her comfort to know that they too are sleeping."

"Yes," Jarred whispered back. "She has always been interested in what goes on outside. You know, Anna, I really do pray that that the Angels (whoever they are) will shield her from harm, for there is harm everywhere in this place."

"They will, Jarred," Anna said with a smile. "Don't you worry about that."

The next day, as the grey guards were marching them in chains away from the forests and Jasmine, Jarred hoped with all his heart that Anna had been right.


	2. The Night

The Night

"When will the baby be here?" Anna asked Lief for what felt like the millionth time.

"I do not know, Anna" Lief answered tiredly. "But you must go to sleep now. Look out the window, see how dark it is? All the other people are sleeping, even Doom."

At the age of four, even Anna knew that her grandfather rarely ever slept during the night., And Lief had hoped that seeing him fast asleep in one of the armchairs by the fire would encourage the little girl to follow his lead. But clearly, his hopes had been in vain.

"Is Mama asleep at the palace?"

She might be," Lief sighed, wishing heartily that his daughter would allow him to sleep, even if she did not do so herself.

"Will the baby be sleeping with her?"

Lief had often been told that a child who asked questions was bound to be a fast learner, but right now, he could not agree. For him, Anna asking so many questions was preventing him from getting the last good night's sleep he would have for a while. For as he lay beside his daughter in the bed he shared with Jasmine at the forge, Jasmine herself was at the palace giving birth to their second child.

"I do not think the baby is here yet," Lief yawned. "Your Mama said that she would send a bird when it was." Reluctantly, he got out of bed and took the few steps to the window, knowing that Anna was watching his every move. "I will open the window a little more," he said as he did just that. "That way, the bird can come right into the room, and we will be the first to know when the baby is here."

"Alright," Anna said, finally closing her eyes.

Lief climbed back into bed and took his daughter in his arms. It still surprised him how small she was. Though Anna's eyes were closed, Lief could tell by her breathing that she had not yet fallen asleep.

Almost without thinking, Lief softly began singing a lullaby that Doom had taught him when Anna had been born. He had not sung it to her in years, and he doubted that she would remember it. But for some reason, it felt right to sing it to her now.

"Slumber my darling, your father is near, guarding your dreams from all terror and fear.

Sunlight has passed, and the twilight has gone, slumber my darling, the night's coming on."

As Lief was singing those last two lines, he felt Anna's little face nuzzling into his chest, and her breathing became slow and even. He took a breath to continue the song, but the lump that had formed in his throat prevented him from doing so.

Lief now realised that the moments before Anna fell asleep, when it was just the two of them, would soon come to an end, one way or another. He had come to cherish these moments over the past months, as he spent more time with Anna while Jasmine had been with child. But now, that child was coming, and then there would be another whose dreams he would also have to guard.

Anna herself was also growing quickly, and would soon begin school. He supposed that around that time, she would no longer need her father to hold her in his arms and sing her to sleep.

So he held her more tightly, knowing that it would not be long before he had to let her go.


	3. The Morning

The Morning

As Daphid stood before the baby lying in the cradle that had been made especially for him by his own father, he knew he should feel stupid. And yet, he felt no such thing. He had often been told that people dealt with these types of situations differently, and he supposed that this was his way of dealing with something he never thought he would have to face. Indeed, before he had met Anna, he had never even contemplated the idea that one day he might be a father himself.

But now, here he was, singing an old lullaby to his firstborn son. It did not matter what anyone else said, to Daphid, the baby boy was perfect. It had taken hours, but they had finally settled on a name for him. They had named him Doran, after Deltora's greatest explorer. Both he and Anna had wanted to give the baby a name that no one else in either of their families had had. But at the same time, they wanted to name him after someone they all knew of, and Doran was such a fitting name. After all the man had been through, it seemed right that Deltora's royal family should name one of its children after him.

Baby Doran wore a beautiful white silk robe that the lady Sharn had made for Anna, but she had never worn it. Once it had become clear that Anna would never ware it, the gown had been put away in a box in Sharn's room and forgotten. Until now.

Daphid felt touched and honoured that a garment made with such love and care was now being worn by his own son, though he knew that the gown's purpose should be breaking his heart. He supposed it helped that Doran was also wrapped in the faded blue blanket that had once kept him warm when he was a babe. But he knew that the time for heartbreak would come later, when it was all over.

"Slumber my Darling, 'til morn's blushing ray, Brings to the world the glad tidings of day.

Fill the dark void with your dreamy delight, Slumber, your father will guard you tonight."

Daphid stopped singing as his voice broke. Those last two lines had been the truest he had sung in his life. Yes, he would stand here and guard his son, and hope that the tiny, precious thing that he had helped to create would have enough "dreamy delight" to get them all through it.

For the previous two lines had sung were not true at all. Tomorrow morning's sunrise would bring no glad tidings at all, at least not for anyone in his (now rather large) family.

In the morning, they would all be attending Baby Doran's funeral.


End file.
